The Haunting of Hoover Dam

By Eva Pohler

An entire city is at stake, so the ladies get busy.

When Boulder City is inundated with strange occurrences, the local, state, and federal authorities come up emptyhanded. Motivated by heart-wrenching appeals on Sue's blog, Ellen and her friends offer to help.

But the pressure's on like never before when their paranormal investigation is met with scrutiny at every turn, especially when they discover, with the help of a one-hundred-year-old ghost, a sickening coverup from the days of the building of the Hoover Dam.

"A history buff's delight! This was such an interesting book. I got hooked in straight away and was rooting for the 3 main ladies the whole time. I loved the history that was guiding this story. Haunted twists were awesome. Another great read from the wonderful Eva Pohler."--Shawnae ★★★★★

"Our intrepid heroines commit themselves to uncovering the whole truth behind the deaths of the many workers who "died to make the desert bloom". The story is captivating, the characters are fun and relatable, and the underlying mission of these wonderful ladies to help all people to the best of their abilities, regardless of whether they are living or long dead, is uplifting. I will definitely be on board for their next adventure."--txdoc, Goodreads Reviewer ★★★★★

"I really enjoyed this book, as I do all of Eva Pohlers' work. Ellen, Tanya & Sue have done it again. Solved the mystery, put things to rights and onto their next adventure. They never give up, even in the face of adversity. These women are true "ghost healers". If you're into the supernatural, mystery and intrigue and feel good endings - the 'Mystery House Series' books are definitely for you!"--Jenny ★★★★★

"I loved the entire book, honestly. Pohler creates an engaging group of characters with real flaws that still manage to be great people. I love the entire mystery house series."--CHadley ★★★★★

"I was hooked from the beginning and I found the history of the Hoover Dam to be very interesting. The author does a fabulous job to add some spooky stuff in her writing as well as weaving history into her story and make it all a very interesting read. I highly recommend this series if you enjoy a mixture of paranormal activity with a hint of history. The author does a beautiful job telling the story."--Laura Martinez, Goodreads Reviewer ★★★★★

If you can't get enough of Karen White, Heather Graham, Bobbie Holmes, or Jana Deleon, then this "perfect mix of fun and scary" paranormal mystery is for you!

The books in this series can be read in any order.

Grab your copy of this ghostly adventure today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eva Pohler
• Release date: Nov 2, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463530924

Eva Pohler

Eva Pohler is a USA Today bestselling author of over forty novels for teens and adults. She writes fantasy based on Greek mythology, supernatural suspense, and psychological thrillers. Her books have been described as "addictive" and "sure to thrill"--Kirkus Reviews.Whichever genre you read, you will find an adventure in Eva Pohler's stories. They blur the line between reality and fantasy, truth and delusion, and draw from Eva's personal philosophy that a reader must be lured and abducted into complete captivity in order to enjoy the reading experience.Visit Eva's website to learn more about her and her books: https://www.evapohler.com/.

Book preview

THE_HAUNTING_OF_HOOVER_DAM_EBOOKBookDesignTemplates.comBook Layout ©2017 BookDesignTemplates.comEva Pohler422013-01-08T01:46:00Z2021-05-20T01:32:00Z2021-05-20T01:33:00Z21245672260334BookDesignTemplates.com216961030539616.0000

Copyright © 2019 by Eva Pohler.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

Eva Pohler Books

20011 Park Ranch

San Antonio, Texas 78259

www.evapohler.com

Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

Book Layout ©2017 BookDesignTemplates.com

Book Cover Design by Keri Knutson

The Haunting of Hoover Dam/ Eva Pohler. -- 1st ed.

Paperback ISBN 978-1704713649

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Contents

A Rough Start

A Rocky Flight

Boulder Dam Hotel

A Dam Good Tour

Interviews

Dinner with the Mayor

A Paranormal Investigation

The Old Boulder City  Hospital Grounds

Questioning

The 31ers

A City Council Meeting

Paranormal Evidence

More Ghosts

Hunter Merton

Hotel Ghosts

The Afflicted

Vegas, Baby

An Unexpected Find

Messages from Beyond

Return to Boulder City

A Midnight Emergency

THE_HAUNTING_OF_HOOVER_DAM_EBOOKBookDesignTemplates.comBook Layout ©2017 BookDesignTemplates.comEva Pohler422013-01-08T01:46:00Z2021-05-20T01:32:00Z2021-05-20T01:33:00Z21245672260334BookDesignTemplates.com216961030539616.0000

For the Hoover Dam workers who died to make the desert bloom but weren’t acknowledged.

THE_HAUNTING_OF_HOOVER_DAM_EBOOKBookDesignTemplates.comBook Layout ©2017 BookDesignTemplates.comEva Pohler422013-01-08T01:46:00Z2021-05-20T01:32:00Z2021-05-20T01:33:00Z21245672260334BookDesignTemplates.com216961030539616.0000

Chapter One

A Rough Start

I

don’t know," Tanya said from where she sat beside Ellen and across from Sue, in their usual booth at Panera.

The window beside Ellen was hotter than her black bean soup, due to the relentless rays of the August sun, which perched at high noon.

I think we should wait at least one more month, Tanya said.

Tanya glanced at each of them with her troubled blue eyes before fidgeting with her salad. Her long blonde hair had been pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of her neck, giving Ellen, beside her, a full view of Tanya’s frown. It seemed to Ellen that Tanya thought the subject was now closed.

Ellen took a sip of her iced tea and hid her exasperation. Every doctor in Boulder City has said the same thing: It’s not contagious. They think the symptoms are psychosomatic. No actual flu virus has been detected.

I’m not sure I’m ready to risk my life on the word of five or six Podunk doctors, Sue said before taking a bite of her broccoli cheddar soup.

Ellen bit her lip. She’d hoped to have Sue on her side, but she’d forgotten what a hypochondriac her friend was. Ellen supposed she should be glad that Sue hadn’t believed she’d already come down with the Phantom Flu.

"No one’s died from it, Sue. And Boulder City is not a Podunk town, Ellen argued. It’s just a hop, a skip, and a jump away from Las Vegas. Now that they’re saying it’s psychosomatic, the quarantine has been lifted. It’s not the bird flu, or the swine flu, or viral pneumonia. It’s not bacterial, either. They’re calling it the Phantom Flu for a reason."

Look who’s calling the kettle black, Sue complained as she brushed her dark bangs from her eyes.

Ellen furrowed her brows. I didn’t call anybody anything.

No, Tanya said. "But you’re frustrated with us for being skeptics when that’s usually your M.O."

Tanya crossed one long, thin leg over the other, nearly curling into a ball, like a baby giraffe. She continued to frown as she used her fork to scoot salad from one side of her plate to the other.

Ellen sighed. If the Phantom Flu were the only strange thing going on in Boulder City, I might be convinced that it was caused by an unknown virus that the doctors have been unable to isolate. I might even believe the apparently popular theory that—what are the numbers now? Five hundred and fifty-two?

Sue nodded.

I might believe that it’s possible for five hundred and fifty-two people to be suffering from mass hysteria. But I truly believe all the evidence points to a significant paranormal event.

Back in May, Tanya and Sue had been chomping at the bit to go. Ellen had wanted to take some time to find closure with Paul. She’d continued to feel guilty about her relationship with Brian. But shortly after Sue and Tanya had convinced Ellen to investigate the strange happenings in Boulder City, news of the flu-like epidemic had swept the nation, and they’d decided to wait.

Let’s just give it until the end of September, Sue said. The weather will be nicer.

I’m not waiting, Ellen said.

Tanya and Sue looked up from their plates with their mouths hanging open.

I’ll go by myself, if I have to, Ellen added. Maybe I’ll ask Brian to join me.

I thought you were going to end things with him, Tanya said before taking a bite of her salad.

I changed my mind, Ellen said. "And you’re changing the subject."

You’re bluffing, Sue said, pointing a finger at Ellen. You won’t go without us.

"Maybe I am bluffing, and maybe I’m not. I want to investigate, to embark on a new adventure. Of course, if I had my choice, I’d rather it be with you than without you."

Tanya frowned again. What if the Phantom Flu is caused by spirit attachments—or, worse, possessions? I’m scared, Ellen.

We have protection against that now. Ellen pinched the gris gris bag hanging around her neck beneath her summer blouse.

"Not one-hundred-percent foolproof protection," Sue said.

Ellen shot a warning look across the table at Sue. It was a wonder that Tanya had helped in Portland, after enduring a spirit attachment in New Orleans. Did Sue want to deter their friend from ever working with ghosts again?

Ellen folded her napkin onto her plate, having finished the last of her panini. She felt a hot flash coming on as sweat formed on her forehead and dripped down the back of her neck. She wished she’d worn her hair up. Tanya had had the right idea with her ponytail. She wondered how Sue’s dark brown hair, which fell to her shoulders, always looked so flawless.

Come on, guys, Ellen said. People are suffering and in need of our help. You said so yourself, Sue. The comments on your blog are absolutely heart-wrenching.

Ellen pulled out her phone and went to Sue’s blog. Over sixty comments—though some from the same people—were listed on Sue’s most recent post. The post had been about the Raven and Rose in Portland, but the comments were all about Boulder City. One man named Carl seemed quite sure that the devil had mistaken Boulder City for Vegas and, after being denied an investigation by the Catholic Church, Carl had come to Sue’s blog as a last resort. Another man commented that he would pay Ghost Healers a hundred thousand dollars to investigate.

Ellen found the comment she’d been looking for and read aloud:

‘Please help. My twenty-year-old daughter has been having visions of a man standing over her bed every night since April. Deprived of sleep, Erin missed a lot of work and was fired last Tuesday. Since then, her health has declined, and nothing seems to help. We need you in Boulder City, Nevada!’ signed, Mary Jane McGinty.

Sue sighed. Ellen, I’ve read my blog. I know what it says.

Mary Jane has commented with three other pleas for help since then, Ellen said as she scrolled through the comments. Oh, my gosh. There’s a new comment today from someone else. Have you read it yet?

No. Sue leaned forward. What does it say?

Ellen read, ‘As my husband and I were driving home to Boulder City from a weekend getaway in Las Vegas last Sunday night, we saw a young man walking on the side of the road coming into town. He was dragging his feet and stumbling in our headlights. My husband slowed the car as we approached him. The man fell into the middle of the road! My husband stopped the car, and we both ran out to check on him, but the man had disappeared! Meanwhile, another car traveling in the same direction as us nearly killed us. Imagine our horror when we arrived in Boulder City and shared our story with friends, only to discover that at least five other people had seen the same thing. One of them hadn’t been as lucky as us. My sister’s father-in-law had been run over by another driver the previous night while trying to help what must have been a ghost! Please come to Boulder City and help us!’—signed, Pat Blake.

That gave me chills, Tanya muttered.

When did it become our job to save people from ghosts? Sue asked. "I don’t understand why people expect us to do something about it."

"You’re the one who wrote the blog that made us famous, Ellen pointed out. You’re the one that made Ghost Healers, Inc. a household name. Then, in a teasing tone, she added, And, you know the old saying: With great power comes great responsibility."

Really? Tanya shook her head before taking another sip of her tea.

Sue sighed. It may sound cheesy, but Ellen’s right.

Tanya looked up at Sue with her brows lifted and her lips parted in surprise. "I thought you were on my side."

We have a gift, Sue said. And it’s our duty to use it for good.

Even at our own peril? Tanya asked. You really want to risk catching this Phantom Flu?

No one has died from it, Ellen said again.

"Not yet, Tanya said. And even so, do you really want to suffer with flu-like symptoms indefinitely? They’re saying no one’s recovered from it, either. It’s been months. And we don’t know that it won’t eventually kill them. Why chance it?"

Sue turned to Ellen. I’ll go with you. When do you want to leave?

Why not this weekend? Ellen suggested.

I’ll check with Tom and let you know.

Seriously? Tanya objected. You’ll go without me?

If we must, Ellen said.

Though we’d rather not, Sue added.

Tanya shook her head. Don’t you think you’re becoming addicted to this paranormal stuff? If you’re willing to risk your health—and even your life—to chase after some ghosts, it might be time to see a therapist.

Ellen folded her hands and turned to Tanya. You were just as excited about Ghost Healers, Inc. as we were, Tanya. You agreed that we felt called to a higher purpose. I think you still haven’t completely recovered from that spirit attachment. Maybe you’re the one who needs therapy. And I say that with love.

I don’t need therapy, Tanya insisted.

None of us needs therapy, Sue said. And no one’s forcing you to go to Boulder City, Tanya. Stay if you want.

Or come, Ellen added.

Fine, Tanya huffed. I’ll check with Dave. But if I get sick or die—or worse, get possessed—it’s your fault, she added, glaring first at Ellen and then at Sue.

Ellen would be more than happy to take the blame—though she wasn’t quite sure how that would help matters. Great. Text me once you’ve checked with your husbands.

As they left Panera, Ellen felt a thrill run down her back. It was exciting to be starting something new, even if it was a bit terrifying.

Sunday afternoon, Ellen, Sue, and Tanya sat in a booth at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport during a three-hour layover for their connecting flight to Las Vegas. Their flight from San Antonio had been tiring if uneventful. Sue had spent the bulk of the flight convincing them that Pappadeaux was the best place to eat lunch at DFW, even if it was quite a distance from their gate. After a filling lunch, the three hung out in their booth with their carry-on luggage beside them and used their phones to conduct more research on the strange events that had been reportedly taking place in Boulder City since early spring.

What I want to know is, ‘Why now?’ Ellen murmured as she scrolled through another page in her Google search. Something had to have caused this massive paranormal event, right? Do things like this just randomly and arbitrarily occur? I think not. Wouldn’t you agree?

According to my research, Tanya began, the first case of the Phantom Flu was traced back to March 22nd.

I’ve not been able to find anything in my research of the Hoover Dam’s history that corresponds with March or with this year, Sue said without looking up from her phone. I was thinking this year might be a significant anniversary, but the dam was built between 1931 and 1936.

Hold on, Ellen said. This says that while construction on the dam began in 1931, the preparations began much earlier. Surveyors had begun investigating Boulder Canyon as early as 1921.

Sue smirked. "Well, that might be relevant if this were 2021."

Tanya shook her head. Do ghosts really care about anniversaries? Are they even aware of them?

Sue shrugged. It was just a theory. Why don’t you share one of yours? Oh, that’s right. You don’t have one.

Tanya’s face turned red. I suppose I’ll share one when I come up with one worth sharing.

Now, now. Ellen said. Sometimes we have to consider the bad ideas in order to come up with the good ones.

Sue furrowed her brows. I didn’t think it was such a bad idea.

Of course not, Ellen said. I just meant that we should consider everything, to increase the likelihood of finding the truth.

Sue’s look of consternation was immediately replaced by a goofy grin when their handsome waiter approached to see if he could bring them any more water or tea.

It had been an hour since he’d cleared their plates away. Ellen planned to leave the waiter a hefty tip—not because they were keeping him from making money, but because there weren’t many tables occupied. It was either a slow day or an unpopular hour for lunch. Ellen had a feeling it was a combination.

Sue had been smitten with their tall, broad-chested waiter, Adrian, since he’d first greeted them. His long dark hair fell to his shoulders, and dark brows contrasted with stunning green eyes. He was probably in his mid-twenties—just a baby—but that didn’t stop Sue from smiling up at him with a touch of pink flushing her cheeks.

Could I get a cherry coke to go? she asked him as she batted her eyelashes. I promise to make it worth your while.

Ellen covered her mouth and fought the giggles.

"I meant with a tip!" Sue cried, her face reddening.

Adrian laughed with his head thrown back.

Seriously, guys, Sue scolded, looking like a tomato.

Adrian turned to Ellen and Tanya. Can I get anything for you, ladies?

Nothing for me, Tanya said.

No, thanks, Ellen added.

I’ll be right back with that cherry coke.

Sue watched the waiter walk away and then turned to Ellen. Well, I guess I won’t be coming to this airport ever again. Thanks a lot, Ellen.

Ellen and Tanya laughed so hard that tears filled their eyes.

When Adrian returned, he handed the coke to Sue, whose fingers trembled with embarrassment as she took the cup.

Thank you, Adrian, Sue said.

No worries, he said with a grin. Hey, didn’t I hear you mention that you were waiting on Flight 475 for Las Vegas?

Yes, Sue replied. Why? Are you on that flight, too?

The look of hope on Sue’s face was enough to convince Ellen that her friend had already concocted a fantasy in which Sue and the waiter were seated on the plane, side by side.

No, he said. I wish. It’s just that I heard them announce last call for boarding passengers. Did you not hear it?

Ellen, Tanya, and Sue looked at one another with wide eyes.

No, Sue cried, looking at her phone. What time is it? Oh, no!

Oh my gosh! Tanya said. I told you we should have eaten closer to our gate.

We better hurry! Ellen said

Reviews for The Haunting of Hoover Dam

[Maria Santana · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I’m an addictive reader! How insightful and creative a writer. Wow!!!